WikiAnswers user survey

Project: Investigating Motivations and Expectations for Asking a Question within Online Q&APrincipal Investigator: Erik Choi (swchoi@eden.rutgers.edu) Duration of Each Session: About 15 minutes Number of Sessions: 1 Total Compensation: A $25 gift card from drawing Approximate # of Participants: 100 Participation limitations: Normal or corrected to normal vision and hearing, normal motor control, at least 18 years old

General: You are being asked to participate in a research project.

Study Description: We are conducting a study to investigate the general background of the WikiAnswers users’ motivations to use the site to seek information and what they expect to receive from other users to satisfy their information need.

Procedures: If you decide to be in this study, you will be asked a number of questions related to your past and current experiences of asking questions on WikiAnswers.

Benefits: There is no direct benefit to you other than the compensation offered to you; however, your participation will help in assisting the researchers understand online referencing and the factors that affect its quality. If you are interested in receiving the published results of our study you may contact one of the researchers above.

Costs: There are no costs to you for participating in this study.

Foreseeable Risks or Discomforts: There are no foreseeable risks to participation in this study.

Confidentiality: This research is confidential. The research records will include some information about you and this information will be stored in such a manner that some linkage between your identity and the response in the research exists. Some of the information collected about you includes email and audio. This information will be coded such that no identifying information about you will be revealed. Also note that we will keep this information confidential by limiting individual’s access to the research data and keeping it in a secure location and password-protected servers.

The research team and the Institutional Review Board (a committee that reviews research studies in order to protect research participants) at Rutgers University are the only parties that will be allowed to see the data, except as may be required by law. If a report of this study is published, or the results are presented at a professional conference, only group results will be stated. All study data will be kept for three years.

Participation in this study is confidential. Any information collected about you will be kept private to the extent allowed by law. To make sure that this research is being carried out in the proper way, the Rutgers University IRB will review study records.

Injury/Adverse Reaction: Reports of injury or reaction should be made to the supervising investigator, listed above. Neither Rutgers University nor the researcher has made provision for payment of costs associated with any injury resulting from participation in this study.

Contact Persons: If you have questions about this research, call or write the principle investigator above at: Seung Won Choi, 4 Huntington street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, swchoi@eden.rutgers.edu

Statement of Rights: You have rights as a research volunteer. Taking part in this study is completely voluntary. If you do not take part, you will have no penalty. You may stop taking part in this study at any time with no penalty. You do not waive legal rights by signing this consent form. If you have any questions about your rights as a research subject, you may contact the IRB (a committee that reviews research studies in order to protect research participants) by contacting the IRB Administrator at Rutgers University at: